Business Incubator: Yea or Nay?
Tomorrow the board members of the Clallam Business Incubator will discuss whether to restructure or dissolve the organization. They’ll meet at 3 p.m. at the offices of the Incubator.
The Incubator is located at 905 West Ninth Street, Port Angeles, and provides professional support for new businesses. Last September the board concluded it could no longer make the $49,000 annual loan payment to the county.
UPDATE:
Business Incubator off the chopping block for the time being.
The Incubator is located at 905 West Ninth Street, Port Angeles, and provides professional support for new businesses. Last September the board concluded it could no longer make the $49,000 annual loan payment to the county.
UPDATE:
Business Incubator off the chopping block for the time being.
Labels: Clallam Business Incubator
posted by Tom Harper at 9:59 AM
23 Comments:
It is scandalous that the Incubator accepted $85,000 to $100,000 a year in City of Port Angeles funding, and subsidized loans from the County, and yet failed to develop its own business plan for living within its budget. The successor board has been left with a huge mess and a mountain of debt caused by dereliction of duty by the former Board and Executive Director. When the extent of these problems began to come more fully to light last fall, they all conveniently bailed-out, leaving the local governments and new board members to pick up the pieces. Oh yes --- the Clallam EDC is also doing what it can to now manage the mess --- without any compensation whatsoever.
I hope that whatever decision is made about continuing the Incubator that the newspaper will tell the full story about why and how the current situation became so dire.
"...the newspaper will tell the full story about why and how the current situation became so dire."
Please don't hold your breath about this. You'll turn blue and die before the "newspaper" ever investigates anything, let alone malfeasance at the Incubator.
And speaking of the Incubator ... close the stupid thing.
No incubator in the world exists without public funding, why would Port Angeles's be any different?
I'll tell you the difference... our County and School District, under Jim Jones' oversight got a grant from the state to finish the Lincoln Center and passed the debt on to the Incubator. Dooming it.
First ANON and ANON right above me -
How about you voicing your opinions and concerns over at the PDN online as well as here? You make great points and they need to be addressed.
I wish I had made a couple screen prints of the incubator site about a year ago. It would have proved useful right about now.
....every post I've done at the PDN has been removed. I'm never going to post there again. Scr*w th*m!
Anon 1:39 p.m. says:
" ... our County and School District, under Jim Jones' oversight got a grant from the state to finish the Lincoln Center and passed the debt on to the Incubator. Dooming it."
The school district had absolutely nothing to do with that loan. It was a CTED grant/loan, applied for by the incubator board, to pay for the interior finishes of the incubator portion of the building. At the last minute, CTED decided that the grant/loan COULD NOT be made to a non-governmental entity. So, the County was recruited to become the pass-through entity on behalf of the incubator board. It helps to get the facts straight...
Here are some of the historical names associated with "managing" the Incubator as it ws sinking into its current state:
President of the Incubator Board in 2008: Former Port Angeles City Manager Mark Madsen.
Secretary Treasurer of the Incubator Board in 2008: Former PA City Councilwoman Karen Rogers.
President of Incubator Board following Madsen's departure until she resigned in autumn 2009: Karen Rogers.
Some other Incubator Board Members in 2008: Neal Brauner, First Federal VP & CFO; Kathy Charlton, Olympic Cellars; Craig Johnson, Partner in CPI; Michael Rauch, CEO of Angeles Composite Technologies, Inc.
Director of the Incubator from 2006 until autumn 2009: Jim Haguewood of "ONE Group Consulting".
Incubator staff members, as posted on its web site in July 2008: Jim Haguewood, Director; Kristene Moorman, Professional Specialist; and Neal Gamroth, Client Advisor.
More history on the Clallam Business Incubator (CBI), from a March 18, 2004 press release titled "Lights Go On At Incubator" published by the Clallam EDC (which was then headed by Jim Haguewood):
"The CBI Task Force under the chairmanship of Neil Gamroth, a SCORE counselor, continues its developmental and advisory work to the CBI Board of Directors, headed by Bill Peach of Rayonier, Inc."
When will everyone in this town realize that Port Angeles's citizens do not understand Economic Development?
The people of Port Angeles do not want an Incubator, they do not understand the value....... same story with Haborworks.......
Ecomonic Development requires public funding.... it does not come free
The fore fathers of the Lincoln Center understood!
The City, The Port, The EDC better figure it out or we will turn into Forks.
"The school district had absolutely nothing to do with that loan."
Guess who was on the CBI BOD...the School District superintendent, the city manager, the College president....Hmmmmmm
The School District had everything to do with it, the School District got the asset at the CBI's expense.... smells a lot like Dr. Cohn to me.
Capitalist, economic development is somewhat important but it's not everything.
I say that the business community should have their own economic incubator programs, and fund them, instead of expecting the taxpayers to hoof the bill while they live in fancy homes and drive fancy rigs and take nice vacations with their money.
The idea that an economy has to keep growing is just nonsense because some are greedy for more money.
"...we will turn into Forks."
Twi-light! Twi-light! Twi-light!
If only we could turn into Forks!
Anon at 7:51 AM, March 01, 2010 - Why anon? You know what happened and the intricacies of the Incubator why not say who you are?
I wonder how it looks for a non governmental group that has government people running it to have the government (run by them) to secure a by the government for the government load for them.
I suspect we could narrow down to a handful of folks who the anon weasel who posted that bit of haughtiness.
The School District had everything to do with the loan, they cooked up the whole thing. Passed the expense onto the incubator, thus the tax payers.
No regard for all of us, only their agenda.
The county needs to turn the loan into a grant, the tax payers are going to pay one way or the other, why tax us more, use the money we already paid to the opportunity fund.
Let's move on
"I wonder how it looks for a non governmental group that has government people running it to have the government (run by them) to secure a by the government for the government load for them."
Well, the little circle of folks that have been "arranging" things in Port Angeles for their personal benefit for years now COUNT on the local populations being too stupid and un-involved to follow their games.
Seeing the recent city council voting results, I think they are safe for some time to come.
Does anybody know what the new Incubator Board decided to do at its meeting today? Did they decide to dissolve it?
Sharon Blevens said...
"Anon at 7:51 AM, March 01, 2010 - Why anon? You know what happened and the intricacies of the Incubator why not say who you are?...I suspect we could narrow down to a handful of folks who the anon weasel who posted that bit of haughtiness."
"weasel", "haughtiness" Why would anybody in their right mind identify themselves in a blog like this? Isn't it enough that they offer info (even if it is their version) to add to the discussion for the general good? Thank you, Anon 7:51! Lighten up a little bit, people.
Anon 9:53 AM, March 02, 2010:
And yet you are here commenting. I imagine you do not include your own comments in your opinion of the blog and that, instead, you offer what? A bit of elegance among the rabble? Rubbish. A coward is what you are.
The bigger question... Would the people's opinion on this matter even count for anything?
Sharon Blevens: From now on you'll have to make your point without namecalling.
" Sharon Blevens: From now on you'll have to make your point without namecalling."
OK. Easily fixed. Anonymous person who has specific insight and feels free to speak with a certain amount of condescention and arrogance (not that you are): the behavior you demonstrate has all the elements of cowardice. Whether you are actually a coward or simply having a fleeting moment of uncommon timidity, I will leave to others to decide.
I will not call a person what they clearly are because it is verboten. But I can clearly call anyone a four letter word and refer to people who I am not directly responding to any manner of awful.
Got it.
"I wonder how it looks for a non governmental group that has government people running it to have the government (run by them) to secure a by the government for the government load for them."
Personally, I'm still trying to figure this paragraph out.
My only conclusion is that it's an attempt at Beatnik poetry and the lines should read like so:
"I wonder how it looks for a non governmental group?
That has government people running it *bongos*
To have the government
(run by them) *finger snaps*
To secure a by the government for the government *bongos*
Load for them!"
Crazy, daddy-o, crazy.
"I wonder how it looks for a non governmental group that has government people running it to have the government (run by them) to secure a by the government for the government load for them."
Personally, I'm still trying to figure this paragraph out. "
Funny. I had NO problem understanding (despite the typos) that the writer was commenting on how the local cronies were arranging/contriving financing schemes so that it looks like the local governmental entities were actually running the Incubator. Of course, as history shows, huge amounts of taxpayer monies are funneled to these select few, while nothing of real substance is ever produced.
Yeah, Real Crazy, Daddy-O.
And this town continues to get sucked dry of every conceivable value by these folks.
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